


son of a witch

by dreamysuns



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, M/M, he’s also a witch, jeno turned into a cat, lapslock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-01-25 16:59:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18578728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamysuns/pseuds/dreamysuns
Summary: the boy in their bed is yelling, shielding his eyes from the light. “what the hell, man? i’m trying to sleep-”“who the fuck are you?” renjun demands.“what kind of question is that? it’s me-” but then the boy’s eyes go wide with a sudden realization. “wait. did you just- understand me?”or, boyfriends jaemin and renjun wake up in the morning with a third boy in their bed and their cat gone.





	son of a witch

jaemin’s dreaming about animal crossing for the nintendo switch when renjun starts screaming.

 

he bolts straight up at the sound, his dream forgotten, and stumbles out of bed, his mind a hazy mix of k.k. slider and _fuck, i have to protect renjun-_

 

and when he flicks the light switch on, his boyfriend’s by his side almost instantly, clinging to his bicep with wide eyes.  “jaemin- there’s something-”

 

and jaemin follows the direction of his shaky pointer finger to the bedsheets that shift and rustle as if something else- a bigger something else- is moving underneath it. jaemin shoves renjun behind him, grabbing his metal water bottle from the desk for self defense as he creeps slowly towards their abandoned bed.

 

and in one fluid movement, jaemin yanks the sheets away.

 

the boy in their bed is yelling, shielding his eyes from the light. “what the hell, man? i’m trying to sleep-”

 

“who the _fuck_ are you?” renjun demands.

 

“what kind of question is that? it’s _me-”_ but then the boy’s eyes go wide with a sudden realization. “wait. did you just- understand me?”

 

“no shit. you have two minutes to explain who you are and what you’re doing in our bed naked before i call 911.”

 

“naked?” and that's when the boy finally glances downward at his own body and yelps, jerking away. “well, stop _staring_ then, jesus _fuck-”_

 

jaemin stares at the wall, still pointing the water bottle at the boy for good measure. “answers. now. or i’m getting the cops in here.”

 

“okay, okay, i’ll explain, just- can i maybe get some pants? or something?”

 

once the boy is situated (in jaemin’s sweats and an old one punch man t-shirt of renjun’s) they all sit at the coffee table, three hastily made bowls of cereal before them. “explain,” jaemin says shortly.

 

the boy looks up at them, his mouth full of frosted flakes. “funny sthory, acthually-”

 

renjun frowns. “chew your food, dude, jeez.”

 

“sorry.” he swallows. “it’s been awhile since jaemin bought frosted flakes, and they’re obviously the best-”

 

“how did you know my name?”

 

a sneaky grin spreads across the boy’s face. “where’s your cat, jaemin?”

 

“don’t play,” jaemin scoffs. “coco’s in the back, sleeping.”

 

“he’s not,” renjun says slowly. “when i passed by earlier he wasn't there. i figured he might’ve ran off somewhere with all the commotion.”

 

but the boy across the table from them merely smiles familiarly back at them as the pieces slowly come together. and when the lightbulb finally goes off, the boy’s dangling a familiar leather collar with a gold name tag attached to it. “it’s me,” he grins.

  


***

  


his real name turns out to be lee jeno.

 

supposedly, he was witch. yeah, a fucking witch, jaemin couldn’t believe it either. he’d lived out in the countryside with two other “witches-in-training,” as he’d called them, until one day, when he’d been flying his broomstick out in the forest, it had all gone horribly wrong, and he’d crash landed among the trees.

 

his instructor and fellow trainees had all rushed over to see if he was okay, but when the smoke had cleared, there was nothing more than a rider-less broomstick and a black cat, meowing its way out of jeno’s hoodie.

 

“my instructor said the crash triggered like, a fight or flight response in my body that transformed me into… you know. a cat. and i couldn’t talk, obviously, or else i would have.” at this part of the story the sun had finally begun to rise, and the bleak sunlight from the window cast smile lines on jeno’s face that jaemin swears he’s seen in the form of whiskers before. “i could only, like, ‘nya,’ you know? but i could type out my thoughts on a keyboard, so i could communicate somehow, at least.”

 

he’d continued his witch training as a cat, but at one point in their schooling they were to travel without the guidance of an instructor to complete their education and become fully fledged witches. so he and the other two trainees had come out to the city to do so.

 

“so that night all those months ago, after the arcade…” renjun says slowly, thinking hard. “when we first met coco in the street…”

 

jeno nods, his mouth full of cereal again (he’s on his fourth bowl now). “yeah, that was me, wandering around. we’d finished our training for the day, and i’d gotten pretty bored, and i ran into you guys…”

 

jaemin remembers. it was just after his second date with renjun. he remembers he’d been sweating bullets, like _do i go for a kiss on the second date?_ or _do i just hug him goodbye?_

 

but luckily he didn’t have to worry about it, because renjun had spotted the cat, meowing down the street. “oh my god,” he’d gasped, crouching down immediately to pet it. “a kitty, so cute! aw, what a good girl…” but he’d quickly bent down to check before coming back up and correcting himself. “i mean, what a good _boy._ where’s your owner, lil’ guy?”

 

“guess he doesn’t have one,” jaemin had said, crouching down to give the cat a scratch behind the ears too. “poor cat.”

 

“you have your own apartment, right?” renjun had realized suddenly, looking up jaemin hopefully. “you could give him a home!”

 

“huh?”

 

renjun had cradled the cat in his arms, staring at jaemin with big, shining eyes. “you wouldn’t just leave this poor cat all alone in the street, would you?”

 

and since jaemin is a weak piece shit for anything involving renjun or small animals, he’d caved. he’d taken the cat home, made it a makeshift bed out of a couple of old pillows, and called it a night.

 

but renjun had come over the next day with two big ass bags of cat food, a mini jungle gym, and a real actual fluffy cat bed. “i was passing by the pet food express and i couldn’t resist,” he’d admitted, but there was huge smile on his face that didn’t read ‘guilt’ at all.

 

“wha- i can’t keep the cat, renjun,” jaemin had spluttered. “i can barely take care of myself, let alone a whole other living organism-”

 

“oh, come on, i’ll help you,” renjun had said pleadingly. “it’s not even that hard-”

 

jaemin knows that renjun had rambled on a little bit more after that, but he’d stopped listening at “i’ll help you.” the gears in his head had begun to turn. see, if renjun had to help him take care of the cat, it would mean he would have to frequent jaemin’s place often. like, very often. and jaemin liked that sound of that.

 

so they’d raised the cat, christened “coco” after his unruly dark color, together in jaemin’s tiny apartment. renjun would come over after classes with cat owner manuals and toys and protips from his weird neighbor, and they’d work through teaching him what to eat, what not to eat, where to piss, where not to piss, which toys to play with, and which girls’ generation posters of jaemin’s that you could never, _ever_ touch, or even look at for an extended period of time.

 

but after the work was said and done, jaemin would make renjun dinner, and they’d talk about everything from mark’s weird new haircut to the multiverse theory, or they’d put on some 2000’s wuxia and cuddle on the couch while heroic swordsmen battled it out on the TV, or they’d blast music on the bluetooth speaker and dance on the coffee table until jaemin’s neighbor yelled at them to shut the fuck up because _it’s 1 AM, dammit_.

 

somewhere along the way, jaemin found himself falling deeply, deeply in love. it was inevitable. so it was no surprise that when renjun tentatively asked one night if he could maybe move in, since he slept over practically every night and came over so often to watch coco anyways, that jaemin had answered yes, _fuck yes,_ and he’d happily made out with renjun on the couch in the proceeding moment that followed.

 

so days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, friends came and went, parents visited, tears were shed (a lot of tears, so to speak), and a breakup or two might have even broken out, but jaemin’s tiny little family- his tiny little home- remained intact, a constant in the whirlwind that was his life. and maybe it was cheesy to admit, but he wouldn’t take back a single second of it.

 

“but you were there,” renjun’s saying slowly, looking up at jeno. “coco- you’ve been around since, like, day one...”

 

jeno burps, his metal spoon clattering to the table as he stretches. “it’s _jeno,_ actually. nothing against ‘coco,’ but i was called jeno before that. you know? but yeah, i guess i _have_ been around since day one.” he gives them an ever familiar cheshire grin. “i know a lot about you guys by now. jaemin. renjun.”

 

“why did you let us take you?” renjun groans, burying his head in his hands. “that’s so- _embarrassing,_ oh my god, we’ve treated you like a cat this entire time-”

 

but jaemin’s gripping his hair, staring at the floor. “oh my god. i let him in the bathroom while i took shits.”

  


***

  


mark’s mumbling, twisting and turning in bed. “hyuck… where are you going?”

 

donghyuck smiles down at his half asleep boyfriend before bending down to plant a small kiss on his forehead. “i just have to pick up the phone. i hear it ringing in the kitchen.”

 

mark groans, grabbing donghyuck’s wrist and attempts weakly pull him back into bed. “let it ring. s’ cold without you.”

 

his voice is raspy from sleeping. adorable. “i’ll be back in a sec,” donghyuck laughs, and he pads out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where his cell phone is still buzzing away on the table.

 

he picks it up, ignoring the display. “hello?”

 

_“donghyuck?”_

 

his phone clatters to the floor as he drops it in shock. there's no way. he hasn't heard that voice in fucking _months_. donghyuck tentatively picks it back up, pressing his phone almost cautiously to his ear. “jeno?”

 

“ _donghyuck...”_ it's definitely him, holy shit. he can hear his stupid grin through the phone. “ _guess who’s back?”_

 

“you- you're _back?_ but… how? when? _how??_ oh my god, can you come over? can _i_ come over?” donghyuck’s pacing the kitchen excitedly, gripping his phone so tightly he wouldn't be surprised if it snapped in half right in his hand. “this isn't a joke, right?”

 

_“how could this be a joke? this is my voice, isn't it? and fuck if i know how i turned back. this morning i woke up, ass out-”_

 

“oh my god-”

 

_“i know- and i was in bed with renjun and jaemin, too. scared the shit out of them.”_

 

 _“_ yeah, obviously,” donghyuck laughs, leaning against the kitchen counter. “what did you tell them?”

 

_“the truth. mostly. told ‘em about that day in the woods back when we were still living with doyoung and how i crashed into that stupid tree in the woods, and how we had to come out to the city alone to complete our training. they believed it pretty easily, actually. they were more embarrassed that i’d seen them naked and lived with them and that i’d heard all their weird rants-”_

 

 _“_ oh, yeah.” footsteps are sounding down the hallway, and a bed-head ridden mark emerges, rubbing his eyes groggily. “humans tell their pets all sorts of weird shit, don't they?”

 

 _“the weirdest shit. you wouldn’t believe. text messages can’t convey how fucking weird it gets.”_ mark’s burying his head into donghyuck’s neck in a warm but stubborn back hug, grumbling about being lonely. donghyuck pats his hand sympathetically, still listening to jeno on the other end. “ _i don’t want to humiliate them too much, though, so i’ll probably just... never bring it up. that would be embarrassing as hell for the both of us.”_

 

“how respectful of you.”

 

_“thanks. anyway, i don’t think i should be intruding on them any longer. it was fun while it lasted, but they’re acting all weird to me now, so i feel like i should leave. what do you say i move back in with you and chenle, just like old times?”_

 

“who’s on the phone?” mark’s mumbling softly into the crook of donghyuck’s neck.

 

“my friend,” donghyuck mouths back. he’ll have to explain the situation later.

 

_“hey, was that mark?”_

 

“yeah, it was. but listen.” donghyuck’s already beginning to feel the guilt weigh in. “i didn’t really get around to telling you yet. but mark and i… are kinda sorta… living together.”

 

 _“oh, no prob. i’ll just chill with chenle._ ”

 

“well... he’s renting out your old room. both of our old rooms, actually-”

 

_“wait, what? what the fuck, dude!”_

 

“i’m sorry! we didn’t think you’d turn back so suddenly out of nowhere. can’t you just stay at renjun and jaemin’s place for a little bit before we find you a new place?”

 

 _“dude.”_ there’s a slight rustling sound on the other end as jeno presumably moves around. _“i don’t think you get it. it’s awkward as all_ hell _. like, i tried being chill. because they’re cool guys, you know? and i know them pretty well by now; it’s been more than half a damn year.”_

 

“so? all the more reason to stay.”

 

 _“but the thing is-”_ jeno’s voice lowers- _“they don’t know shit about me. it’s weird, man! it’s like- being best friends with someone, and then the next day all their memory of you is wiped. so you know them, but they don’t know you. it’s like that.”_

 

mark’s now planting sleepy kisses on the back of donghyuck’s neck, an obvious attempt to lure him back to bed. donghyuck doesn't bite, though. “well, let them get to know you then,” he suggests to jeno instead. “or- just _ask_ them to let you stay until we find a new place, for fuck’s sake.”

 

_“i can’t just ask two hot guys to- to stay with them. that’s like, way beyond how weird the situation already is. not to mention that they’re dating each other.  like, jaemin and renjun are the type of couple that lives in their own little fricking bubble.”_

 

donghyuck smiles to himself, amused. “but they’re hot?”

 

there’s a pause on the other end. jeno recovers quickly. _“that’s just objective facts, though,”_ he says. _“we’ve known this from the start. have i not called them hot before?”_

 

“you have. just making sure your opinion hasn’t changed.”

 

_“oh.”_

 

“listen, mark and i will be over soon, and we can help you find a place, okay? just give us a bit; mark’s like, exhausted, from yesterday’s concert.”

 

“yeah, i am,” mark says, his voice muffled in donghyuck’s shoulder.

 

_“well, what am i supposed to do until then? stick around with renjun and jaemin? i’m pretty sure they only let me borrow their phone because they thought they were getting rid of me.”_

 

donghyuck thinks for a moment. “have you seen chenle yet?”

 

***

 

“no way. no way. no fucking _way,_ it’s jeno lee!”

 

chenle’s tackled him in a flying hug, but jeno pushes him away, glaring. “heard you rented out my room, lele. not fucking cool.”

 

chenle’s grinning back at him. it’s so nice to be looking down at this kid again. it’s only been a few weeks since they’ve last seen each other, but it’s been _months_ since jeno’s actually been _taller_ than him. “i had to make some cash somehow. i mean, _you’re_ the one who was living it up at renjun and jaemin’s pad, not returning your texts for weeks on end, and not coming back for just as long. so... i rented out your room. big deal.”

 

“what did taeyong say?”

 

taeyong’s the owner of a certain garage in the downtown area of the city. while it was true that any further guidance in this stage of their training was prohibited, doyoung had discreetly directed them in the direction of lee taeyong before they’d departed, who made his living fixing human cars in the front and selling enchanted parts out the back. taeyong also happened to own the apartment complex directly above his garage, in which donghyuck, chenle, and jeno had all stayed until recently, and was the very same apartment jeno’s currently visiting to see chenle.

 

“taeyong laughed,” chenle snorts. “i think his exact words were ‘get that green.’”

 

“what a traitor.”

 

“hey, that’s what i said! i was like, ‘jeno’s gonna call you a traitor.’ and taeyong was all like, ‘what else is he gonna do, scratch me?’”

 

jeno grits his teeth. “i’ll curse that red-headed twink to the pits of hell the next time i see him.”

 

chenle stares at him curiously. “hey, how’s your magic? have you tried anything since you turned back?”

 

“oh, shoot, no. should i?”

 

chenle hurries to the kitchen and emerges back with a red apple, which he tosses to jeno. “try something with this.”

 

“okay. bet.” jeno sets the apple on the table and racks his brain, trying to recall any basic spell. “alright, got one.” he claps his palms together, the sound resonating through the empty apartment. _“iterum dulcis rubrum, nucx scleris, apud mollis panem-”_

 

with a bang, the apple explodes, pieces of the fruit flying, the stuff splattering across the apartment and across their faces. chenle swipes a glob of it off of his cheek. “yikes, dude. what was that?”

 

jeno blinks, his hands still pressed together. “it’s from _trillium incantus,_  volume two-”

 

“i know what book the spell was from.” chenle peers at him. “i meant- that’s simple transfiguration. you’re really out of it, aren’t you?”

 

jeno flushes, glaring back at him. “i was a cat for six months! i learned all the new spells just from watching you and hyuck, and i could barely practice my old ones, as i was a _fucking cat-_ ”

 

chenle clears his throat, clapping his hands together. between his palms, a faint green light escapes. show off. _“iterum dulcis rubrum, nucx scleris, apud mollis panem!”_

 

in a flash of light, jeno feels the sticky fruit clear from his face, and in the place where the apple had previously stood on the breakfast table is the nutella sandwich that jeno had unsuccessfully tried to cast into existence. chenle picks it up and takes a triumphant bite out of it, wiggling his eyebrows. “you’ve got a long way to go, don’t you?”

 

“it was a fluke, alright? i just had to warm up.” jeno whirls around, his eyes falling on a plastic trash bin near the end of the hall. “watch this-” he points at the bin, praying that some old dead witch would take pity on him in hell and shoot him some extra mana. “ _res vellissamae profiligo-”_

 

but the trash can merely wiggles as if a light breeze has momentarily disturbed it, then goes still once more. chenle bursts out laughing. “was that a destruction spell? that was pathetic and anticlimactic as _hell,_ oh my god _-”_

 

jeno buries his face in his hands. “okay, i’m fucked.”

 

“hey, don’t say that,” chenle’s saying coaxingly, rubbing his back reassuringly, but there’s still a hint of amusement in his voice. “let’s go grab some of your old stuff that you can finally use now that you’re a human again.”

 

jeno peeks at chenle through his fingers. “you kept all my stuff?”

 

“of course. let's go check it out, i think hyuck shoved it all in a closet before he moved out with mark.”

 

so chenle leads jeno to the closet in the hall, which turns out to be locked shut. chenle presses his palms together, about to start a spell, but jeno groans. “you're using magic to open it? now you're just rubbing salt in the wound.”

 

chenle glares back at him. “maybe if you hadn't been flying around at night time like an idiot, you wouldn't have turned into a cat and delayed your magical progress.”

 

“yeah, okay. nothing i haven't heard from doyoung about a billion fucking times. open the closet with a key? please?”

 

chenle reluctantly fishes around in his pocket before pulling out a silver key and shoving it into the lock. the door swings open a moment later, revealing all of jeno’s possessions stacked neatly on the shelves, including-

 

“my clothes! yes!” jeno cries, and he grabs for his trusty leather jacket and jeans as fast as he can. “i’m gonna change real fast, gimme a sec-”

 

he bolts down the hall and into the restroom, before he emerges a minute later looking much more like himself. “check it out, lele,” he grins, smoothing down his shirt, posing model-esque. “i’m wearing clothes again!”

 

“and you look just as ugly as you did before. now come sort through the rest of your shit with me and decide what you want and don't want.”

 

they decide to keep all of jeno's old spellbooks and crystals, since he'd have to go back and re-learn all the old material anyway. jeno's extremely pleased to have all his old shoes back along with his clothes, and does a totally unnecessary try on with all of them (he keeps the stan smiths on, though). as they get through the last of the boxes, the only thing remaining in the closet is jeno’s trusty broomstick.

 

jeno sucks in a breath as he holds it, palms up, like it’s excalibur. the handle is still as smooth as he remembers, and not a single twig is out of line. it's a sight. “god, how i’ve missed you.”

 

“there’s no way in hell you’re riding it,” chenle says warningly. “not when your magic is all fucked. and definitely not while we’re out in the city and anyone can see. and what if you crash again and turn back-”

 

“i know, i know,” jeno sighs, running a palm along the handle. “i just miss it, is all. it's the one magical thing i’m really good at.”

 

chenle frowns. “don’t say that.”

 

“but it's _true._ i can't memorize those long ass incantations like donghyuck, or brew tonic like you. and i’m okay at spells and curses, i guess, but then i can't summon anything to save my life. the one thing i can actually do well is fly.”

 

“hey, you made a pretty cute cat, too. kidding, kidding!” chenle adds hurriedly as jeno raises a fist mock threateningly. “look, you just need to get some more practice, and you’ll be back and better than ever, yeah?”

 

“practice,” jeno repeats, more to himself than to chenle. “right. i got this. i’ll just practice my magic really hard, even though i’m like six months behind. and then i’ll finally complete my training.”

 

“like donghyuck,” chenle adds.

 

“like donghyuck,” jeno agrees. but then he falters, processing chenle’s words. “wait. like... donghyuck? he-” jeno’s eyes widen. “he completed his training??”

 

chenle blinks. “he didn’t tell you?”

 

***

 

“you’re a fucking _witch?_ ”

 

jeno’s pacing the living room, running his hands through his hair, slightly crazed. “you completed your training, and you didn’t bother to tell me? we’re supposed to be _best friends,_ man!”

 

donghyuck flashes his shiny new ID card from where he’s sitting on the L-shaped couch. “i took the exam two weeks ago and this came in the mail yesterday.” he’s grinning, amused. “i mean, i would’ve told you, i swear! but it was hard to get in contact with you-”

 

“i have a cell phone-”

 

“-that you couldn’t pick up, because you were a _cat_ ,” donghyuck says, rolling his eyes. “don’t take it so seriously, jeno. it wasn’t a big deal.”

 

“a witch.” jeno’s collapsed onto the couch, his head in his hands. “a fully fledged witch. oh my god.”

 

“alright, alright, hold the phone,” jaemin’s saying from where he’s leaning against the wall, waving his hands. he points at mark, who has his arm around his boyfriend, relaxed. “mark- you _knew_ about this witch business?”

 

“well… yeah,” mark admits. “it was a whole other thing, a couple of months ago- i got my memory wiped- and then unwiped- died, like twice- talked to the council of witches- ”

 

“so you _knew_ coco was really jeno, and you didn’t tell us?”

 

“what? no, i had no idea, actually.” mark turns to jeno. “that’s you, right?”

 

“yeah, i’m jeno,” jeno says, holding out his hand, which mark slaps enthusiastically, grinning. “yo, that is _sick,_ dude! i’m mark, by the way.”

 

“oh, yeah, i know.”

 

mark turns to donghyuck, pointing at jeno, an awestruck grin across his face. “ _sick,”_ he mouths.

 

jaemin’s massaging his temples. “so- donghyuck. you’re a… witch.”

 

“that’s right. sorry you had to find out like this,” donghyuck apologizes, scratching the back of his neck. “i was going to say something eventually, after i passed my exam.”

 

“well, you could have at least said something about coco. fuck, that’s why you two always got along so well whenever you and mark came over...”

 

“the thing is, though- jeno actually asked me not to tell you guys who he really was when you took him in.”

 

jaemin turns to jeno incredulously. “ _seriously?”_

 

jeno flushes. “well, i couldn’t just _leave!_ that night, i thought, okay, i’ll just run away in the morning, but renjun ended up buying all that stuff for me the next day, and i- i couldn’t leave. it would’ve broken his heart.”

 

mark glances around the room. “where is renjun, anyway?”

 

“he’s staying late at the dance studio,” jaemin and jeno say together.

 

jaemin raises an eyebrow at jeno. “this is so fucking weird, dude.”

 

“sorry. couldn’t help it.”

 

jaemin sighs, running a hand through his hair. “so, what is it that you’re asking of us, again?”

 

“just for a place to stay,” donghyuck inputs. “not for long. just until he completes his training and passes his exam. after that, he has a lot more options.”

 

“i could go back to the woods and live with doyoung and jisung,” jeno mutters. “whoopee.”

 

jaemin eyes the three of them warily (passing over donghyuck’s puppy dog eyes and jeno’s helpless sort of shrug) before sighing again. “fine. you can stay.”

 

donghyuck whoops, leaping to his feet. “yes!”

 

“what’re you so happy about?”

 

“well, if you guys had turned him down, mark and i would’ve had to let jeno stay with us.”

 

“hey!” jeno protests, frowning. “what’s wrong with that?”

 

“nothing. i just need my mark time.”

 

“ew. okay, that’s it, i’m kicking you out,” jaemin says, shooing mark and donghyuck out the door. “go. go. _begone.”_

 

“i’ll catch up with you in a couple of days, jeno!” donghyuck calls over his shoulder before the door slams after them.

 

“witches,” jaemin sighs, scratching the back of his head. “i can’t believe it.” he looks at jeno curiously. “i thought witches were supposed to be girls, though?”

 

“that’s a stereotype, i think. witches can be anyone who practices witchcraft. like... my magic instructor was a guy, and so are all the other witches i’ve met.” jeno frowns. “i’ve never met a female witch, now that i think about it. all the girls i know are into demon hunting and that kind of hardcore shit.”

 

“so… you can do... magic?”

 

“my magic’s kind of shit right now, since i’ve been so out of practice. but yeah, i can.”

 

jeno waits for the “can you add some centimeters onto my height?” or the “can you duplicate my twenty?” but it doesn’t come, surprisingly. instead, jaemin’s tying a flowery apron around his waist, making for the kitchen. “so, can i make you something? you probably don’t want any more of that canned tuna we used to buy you. pasta?” he’s opening up some cabinets, his hand on his waist as he considers his options. “we’ve got penne. and i could make some red sauce, or something.”

 

jeno blinks. “yeah, sure. anything sounds good.”

 

jaemin lights up the stove, his back to jeno. “renjun’s gonna be back pretty soon. you wanna tell him you’ll be staying? or should i?”

 

“i’ll tell him.” there’s an awkward beat of silence before jeno speaks up once more. “and... i’m really sorry about this whole thing. i thought it was gonna be funny when you guys found out- which it totally was, actually- but i’m sorry that i lied, i guess? about my identity.”

 

“it’s cool,” jaemin says. he’s stirring up diced tomatoes in the pot, still facing away. “you couldn’t have told us anyway. it happened already. it’s over. renjun and i will help you find a place to stay, and we’ll both be out of each other’s hair, no harm done.”

 

“yeah,” jeno agrees. “it’s over. right.”

 

for some reason, though, he doesn’t feel entirely happy.

 

**

 

the door creaks open, the outside light temporarily blinding jaemin. “sorry,” renjun’s whispering, shutting it behind him quickly. “did i wake you?”

 

“no,” jaemin lies, sitting up. the alarm clock on the nightstand tells him it’s just a bit past midnight. “how long were you at the studio?”

 

“just ‘til eleven thirty.” renjun’s shedding his windbreaker, tossing it on a chair. “not long.”

 

“that’s late. have you eaten? i left you pasta on the stove…”

 

renjun leans down and presses a soft kiss to the side of jaemin’s temple. “i’m gonna take a shower. go back to sleep. i know you were sleeping.”

 

jaemin’s eyes are dropping closed again, and before he knows that time has even passed, renjun’s joining him under the covers, his body warm and his damp hair wafting lavender shampoo. “g’night, jaemin,” renjun’s whispering.

 

“renjun…”

 

“yeah?”

 

“coco…”

 

jaemin can’t tell in the dark of the room and the haze of his sleepiness, but he can hear renjun’s smile. “you mean jeno?”

 

“yeah, jeno… he’s downstairs…”

 

“mmhmm.” jaemin feels a hand raking softly through his hair. “i saw him when i came in. he washed the dishes, you forgot to.”

 

“oh.”

 

“he’s a nice guy. i miss coco a little, but after seeing jeno it just… makes sense.” there’s a brief pause. jaemin cracks open an eye, and his boyfriend is looking thoughtfully away, pondering. “he’s sorta cute, you know.”

 

“who? jeno?”

 

“yeah.” renjun’s eyes are twinkling. “don’t you think so?”

 

jaemin frowns. “he was our cat, though. isn’t that, like, beastiality?”

 

renjun hits him on the arm. “no, dumbass. he was never our cat. he’s a human. he was just accidentally transformed, remember?”

 

“i... guess.”

 

“oh my god.” renjun’s grinning gleefully at him. “you’re _jealous-”_

 

“am not!” jaemin huffs, but he turns over in their bed, his back to renjun defiantly. “he’s just a regular guy. who used to be a cat. who’s seen me shit…” a shiver runs down his spine. “i really hope he doesn’t remember that.”

 

“mmhmm. sure.” renjun’s giggling, his arm dropping around jaemin’s waist, pulling him closer. “we’ll talk more in the morning, ‘kay?”

 

“ugh. fine.” jaemin’s flops back around for a goodnight kiss, but renjun’s already sleeping, his chest rising and falling slowly, his arm still thrown around jaemin’s waist. jaemin can’t help but grin at the sight. renjun’s so precious.

 

he leans in and plants a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead anyway. “love you.”

  
  


**

 

the next morning, all the fire alarms in the apartment are going off.

 

jaemin bolts out of bed, tossing a half-asleep renjun over his shoulder like a sack of rice on pure instinct, and tears down the hallway as fast as he can. in the living room, the air is smoky, and there’s a noise like a hose being sprayed before everything goes white.

 

“sorry,” jeno’s saying tentatively, in the center of it all. half the couch is burnt away, and the rug has been reduced to a large black smudge in the middle the room. everything else is coated in a whiteish foam, and as jaemin’s eyes drop to the red fire extinguisher in jeno’s hands, it all comes together.

 

“sorry,” jeno repeats, quieter this time. he’s out of his pyjamas, dressed in his leather jacket and jean combination, but his hands are covered in charcoal and his bangs stick up like he’s been electrocuted. “it- it all happened so quickly-”

 

jaemin sets renjun down, who’s now rubbing his eyes groggily. “what the fuck happened here?”

 

“it was an accident, i swear-” jeno’s stammering. “i was just practicing my magic, trying to summon a familiar-”

 

“summon a _what-”_

 

“a familiar, it’s like a demon-animal-friend kind of thing, but-”

 

“what happened to the rest of the fucking _couch?_ ” jaemin’s saying disbelievingly, running a hand along the now singed armrest. he whips around, taking in the state of everything else too. “and the lampshade is fucking _melted_ . and the rug- the rug that my _grandmother gifted me-_ ”

 

“your grandmother gave you that? wow.” jeno laughs tentatively. “well... it was kind of ugly anyways?”

 

jaemin’s ready to fucking strangle this guy, witch or not, but renjun’s voice stops him in his tracks. “woah. what happened here?”

 

jaemin swivels around, fuming. “fucking _jeno_ nearly burnt down our whole apartment trying to do magic at ass-o’-clock on a sunday morning-”

 

but renjun’s turned to jeno, his eyebrows raised curiously. “magic?”

 

jeno looks just as surprised as jaemin feels. “um, yeah. i was trying to summon a familiar- if you, uh, look just under where you’re stepping- that was the summoning circle i was just using. but it… kinda went horribly wrong. my magic’s sort of shit right now…”

 

but renjun’s bent down, inspecting said summoning circle with an awestruck look on his face. “this is fucking _cool_ , jeno! what kind of familiar were you trying to summon?”

 

jeno scratches the back of his neck. “well, uh- i was trying to summon _aelurus,_ a demon type that appears as a cat.”

 

“oh, that’s cute,” renjun laughs. “like coco, right?”

 

“i’m sorry,” jaemin interrupts, feeling as if he’s missed something. “but he just said he tried to summon a fucking _demon_ in our apartment-”

 

but renjun shushes him, not breaking eye contact with jeno, who he smiles at reassuringly instead. “but you must be all out of practice though, from being a cat for such a long time? i bet that’s tough.”

 

“it really is,” jeno agrees. “and since i’m gonna try to take the witch qualification exam in a couple of months, i really need to get it together if i want to pass.”

 

renjun’s opened his mouth to say something else, but jaemin pulls him to the side, shooting jeno an apologetic smile. “can i just borrow renjun for a sec- _what the fuck are you doing.”_

 

renjun frowns at him. “what do you mean?”

 

“ _that’s so cool!_ ” jaemin mimics. “jun. come on. he tried to summon a demon cat into our apartment, and burned down half of the fucking place in the process-”

 

“so? he’s just trying to get better at magic. besides, he said he would clean everything up and buy a new couch, right?”

 

“but-” jaemin glances quickly over his shoulder. jeno’s playing around with the fire extinguisher, accidentally spraying foam onto his jacket before quickly putting it down, wiping the stuff away hurriedly. “but he’s gonna keep practicing, and the shit is clearly dangerous. i mean, we don’t know anything about this magicky shit. and i don’t want anyone to get hurt. maybe... he shouldn’t stay with us.”

 

“look, no one’s going to get hurt,” renjun insists. “his magic is only gonna get better the more he practices, and he’ll take the witch exam in month and move out anyway. we can help him for just a month, can’t we?”

 

when renjun’s bottom lip begins to tremble, jaemin caves. “alright,” he says finally. “i mean, don’t get it wrong, i think he’s a cool guy or whatever, i just don’t want this dangerous shit happening in my apartment. the alarm scared the shit out of me this morning. you didn’t even hear it.”

 

“oh yeah.” renjun frowns. “i guess i didn’t. i’m... sorry.”

 

“don’t be, don’t be,” jaemin sighs, pulling him in for a hug. “wasn’t your fault. i’ll always wake you up in case of a fire anyway. it’s okay.”

 

“thanks, jaemin.”

 

when they pull away, jeno’s clearing his throat from behind them. “so... i’m still okay to stay here, right?”

 

jaemin musters up a smile. “yeah, dude. it’s all good, no worries. it won’t get any worse, right?”

 

but it does.

 

jaemin comes home from classes a day later, and when he opens the door, a flock of doves burst from the apartment, followed by lee jeno with a magic wand between his teeth and hasty apologies, leaving jaemin to deal with a new apartment covered in bird shit. it’s fucking gross, and jeno doesn’t return till late, the doves ‘taken care of.’

 

two days after that, renjun chugs a protein smoothie from the fridge before heading to dance practice, except it’s not his protein smoothie, and his hair turns bright red. he assures jeno that it looks cool and all, but not before his skin starts to glow the very same color, and donghyuck has to come over and brew an antidote, laughing.

 

on friday, after the lumberjack leaves (jeno had accidentally grown a small forest in the kitchen) jaemin sits down with renjun at the table. “we need to talk.”

 

renjun blinks innocently back at him. “about what?”

 

jaemin glances around the apartment furtively, even though he knows jeno has stepped out for dinner with donghyuck and another one of their friends, and won’t hear a word. “about- _jeno._ he has to fucking go.”

 

renjun frowns, but jaemin’s mentally prepared. he’s determined not to cave to his boyfriend this time. “the forest was the last straw. he’s done so much shit and it’s barely been a week-”

 

“it’s not that bad-”

 

“don’t even try,” jaemin warns. “i’m not forgetting wednesday.”

 

“what happened on wednesday?”

 

“when he _shrunk_ me,” jaemin grits, cringing at the memory. he’d woken up four foot three and his voice pitched up, like a real life christmas elf. jeno had laughed so hard he cried, before jaemin made him fix it before renjun could see.

 

renjun giggles. “god, i wish i was there-”

 

“no, you don’t. the point is, he’s gotta go. i seriously can’t stand it anymore. it’s too fucking dangerous. i for real thought you were stuck as a traffic light forever-”

 

“now, that was kind of cool,” renjun tries, but jaemin stares him down, unamused. sensing defeat, renjun sighs, slumping down in his seat. “okay, fine. we can have a talk with him when he gets back, i guess.”

 

“good,” jaemin says, satisfied, but at that moment their doorbell rings, and then three more times, impatient.

 

“is he back already?” renjun says curiously, standing. “did he forget his key?”

 

“perfect, we can have the talk right now,” jaemin snorts as renjun disappears into the hall to get the door. “the timing couldn’t have been better.”

 

but suddenly, the apartment falls completely silent. jaemin turns around in his chair, baffled. “renjun?”

 

there’s no answer.

 

jaemin instinctively thinks _holy shit, is he breaking up with me?_ before the logical part of his brain insists he go check the door too. so he makes his way cautiously towards the hallway.

 

the front door is swung open, revealing the outside hall of their apartment. renjun’s gone. jaemin frowns, sticking his head out into the hall. “renjun-”

 

and suddenly, his mouth is being clamped shut by a gloved hand, and the second he inhales he feels his muscles go numb, a scent that’s almost flowery putting him to sleep. he collapses to the floor, dazed.

 

above him, a man in a dark cloak is adjusting the black gloves on his hands, looking down at jaemin disdainfully. jaemin can’t make out his face as his vision is becoming more and more foggy, but he manages to let out, “where… is renjun…”

 

“so you’re the human he’s staying with?” the man says, his voice hinting at amusement. “interesting choice.”

 

jaemin can feel his eyelids drooping, but he tries to go on anyway. “who… who are you?”

 

“kim doyoung,” the man says, giving him an unreadable smile. “sleep.”

 

and jaemin blacks out.

**Author's Note:**

> woooo my first fic!!! ty for reading c: ill put out the second ch asap!!!
> 
> yell at me on twt: @dreamysuns


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